A. Field of the Invention
This relates to the detection of explosive devices in high pedestrian traffic areas. The portal is designed to process as many as 3,000 people per hour such as passengers at transit locations or visitors to sites or arenas. With this system the individuals would walk through portals without long delays normally associated with explosive protection portals.
The system may be deployed at airports, train stations, bus stations, sports arenas, shopping malls, and any areas involving high public concentrations.
B. Prior Art
There are many other prior art references to explosion detection devices and a representative example of this can be found at Kardish U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,047. This is a device with a colorimetric detection of explosives and narcotics. It is a handheld device and is designed to be portable.
Additionally, another prior art reference can be found at Schwartz U.S. Pat. No. 6,967,103, which is an apparatus and method for detecting explosives and substances using polymer and fiberoptic cables to form an image of the target molecule source. There are other devices to remove particles from different structures, including solid state surfaces. An example of this can be found at Uziel, U.S. Pat. No. 6,949,147. There is also laser detection of explosive residue, and this taught is at Haley, U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,898.
Other means to detect explosives include luminescent responses or magnetic responses and both of these methods are taught at Ryan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,064.
Other portal detection devices do exist in the prior art and a representative example of this type of device can be found at Jenkins, U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,309. In this reference particles from articles of clothing or objects are dislodged as the person or object passes through the portal. This system involves direct contact with the portal unlike the current device that relies upon air flow to dislodge the particles. The drawback to this system is the relative inefficiency as persons pass through the portal. It is simply not designed to handle large volumes of people because of the necessity of direct contact with the portal.
The great challenge of this type of technology is designing a system where detection is accurate and efficient. Some of the previously cited prior art address the accuracy portion of this type of technology but do not address the efficiency part of the equation. Both of these goals are accomplished by this particular system and method in a way that does not needlessly intrude upon privacy concerns.